Sam's Solitude
by SecretOfTheOceans
Summary: It's the week before graduation, and Valerie wants to ask Danny out, though he thinks he may like someone else...what decision will he make? I guess it's a songfic, mentions a bunch of different songs. Slight DxV, DxS in the end, oneshot.


I wrote this a long time ago and thought that it was pretty good. I don't own the song "Solitude" by Evanescence, or Danny Phantom. Danny Phantom is owned by Butch Hartman. I don't own any other songs also mentioned in this fanfic. Some cussing...probably just one word though.

* * *

Sam's Solitude

_"I am nothing..."_

* * *

Danny Fenton walked to school on a foggy Thursday morning.

Sam had been sick for the past three days, so he had to walk to school by himself.

Most of the day was pretty boring. Danny felt himself nodding off a couple times during his classes, and Sam wasn't there to wake him up, so he got in trouble by the teachers.

At the end of the day Danny walked to his locker, and noticed Valerie staring at him and smiling.

He smiled back at her, but with not as much enthusiasm as he had hoped.

She turned away from him, and started talking to another girl in the hallway.

Danny closed his locker with a small thud, and noticed Tucker standing by him.

"Ready to help me?" Tucker asked him.

"The things you get me into Tuck." Danny sighed.

Tucker was on the yearbook committee their senior year, and since the yearbook committee had decided to do the yearbook digitally Tucker did a fantastic job helping them with it.

The whole yearbook committee also insisted that Tucker make a power point for the graduating class.

Sam had helped Tucker organize the power point, and she was going to look over it for the yearbook committee, but since she was sick, Danny volunteered to take her place. Well, actually Tucker volunteered for him, but that doesn't matter.

Danny followed Tucker to the computer lab where he inserted the disk into the computer.

"OH CRAP!" Tucker called out and it startled Danny, "I forgot that I had an appointment at 3:15 for the dentist!!!"

Danny rolled his eyes.

"No, you can stay here. I'll just drive over there, and come back, and then you can tell me what you think."

Danny nodded, and Tucker left the room.

Danny turned his attention back to the computer.

The page wasn't opened to a power point, but a movie file.

Danny stared at it.

The title of it was Sam's Solitude.

He looked at it a couple more seconds, before he clicked on it.

_How many times have you told me, you love her?_

_As many times as I wanted to tell you the truth._

_How long have I stood here, beside you?_

_I live through you, you looked through me._

_Oh Solitude_

_Still with me, is only you_

_Oh Solitude_

_I can't stay away from you_

Danny recognized it at once as Sam's voice singing along with another's as random pictures of him and her came onto the movie screen.

_How many times have I done this, to myself?_

_How long will it take, before I see?_

_When will this hole in my heart be mended?_

_Who now is left alone, but me…_

_Oh Solitude_

_Forever me and forever you_

_Oh Solitude_

_Only you, only true_

_Everyone leaves me stranded, forgotten, abandoned, left behind._

Danny started to wonder if that's how Sam felt.

_I can't stay here another ni…ight_

He thought he heard sobs in the background of the music, but Sam kept on singing with it.

_You're secret admirer_

_Who could it be…?_

He heard the sobs stop.

_Ooohh_

_Can you see?_

_All along_

_It was me_

Danny's mouth was hanging wide open, could she possibly be singing about him?

He looked at the pictures…it was pretty obvious.

_How could you be so blind_

_As to see right through me_

He remembered all the clueless jokes…could that be…what they were saying?

_Solitude_

_Still in me_

_Is only you_

_Oh Solitude_

_I can't stay and wait for you_

_And oh Solitude_

_Forever me, and forever you_

_Oh Solitude_

_Only you_

_Oh Solitude_

Danny's mouth couldn't be hanging lower.

A million thoughts ran through his mind, most of them questions, but questions to who?

Sam? No, he already knew most of what she was thinking, but to himself.

Did he like her the same way?

Well, I mean sure he thought about it.

He'd been thinking about it ever since Gregor asked him about it.

Gregor…

He hated saying the name. Whenever he thought about him his eyes turned green.

He had been such a jerk to Sam, she deserved someone better.

Someone more like him…

Or maybe him…

But a thought stopped him in his tracks…Valerie.

Did Valerie still like him?

Possibly, but she would never go out with him until Danny Phantom disappeared, or he told her that he was Danny Phantom.

But the possibility of either of those things happening was not likely.

He sighed, and was startled again as Tucker bounded into the room.

Tucker saw the computer screen and smacked the palm of his hand onto his forehead.

"CRAP, Sam's gonna kill me." Tucker groaned.

"What?"

"I gave you the wrong disk…you weren't supposed to see that, Sam made it."

"Sam made it?"

This was getting interesting. Sam hadn't wanted him to see it.

Tucker smacked himself on the forehead again.

"You weren't supposed to hear that."

Tucker removed the disk from the computer and put another one in.

"Are you gonna help me or not?" Tucker asked Danny, "and you better not tell Sam."

"I won't" _at least not right now, _"let's watch the power point." Danny told him.

* * *

Sam opened her front door to see Valerie standing there.

"Here's your homework Sam." Valerie handed it to her, "When are you coming back to school?"

Sam sneezed into a Kleenex.

"I feel a whole lot better," She said without a wheeze in her voice, "but the doctors want me to wait until Monday to go back to school."

"Oh…that's too bad." Valerie said, "Because I was planning on asking Danny out tomorrow, and I wanted you to be there to support him."

Sam twitched.

"Yeah…" She tried not to sound too fake, "that is too bad, but I'll support you guys in spirit."

Valerie gave her a hug, and Sam tried to keep her lunch down.

"Thanks Sam," She said.

"No…" Sam struggled to say the words, (1. Because Valerie was squeezing her to death, and 2. Because she liked Danny too.) "No…problem"

Valerie let go of her, waved goodbye, and disappeared down the street.

Sam shut her door and sighed.

Come Monday, she would be in horrible depression.

* * *

Sam had called Danny the night before and sadly told him that she wouldn't be there that day either.

Danny silently walked to school, until he saw Valerie running towards him.

"Danny, I have something important to ask you." She told him.

His heart skipped a beat.

What could it be?

* * *

Sam received a disturbing phone call from Tucker at lunch.

She cried into her pillow.

Everything was going so wrong and all because she was sick.

If she would've been there that day, she could've changed it.

She could've…

She walked over to her wall, and banged her head on it.

If she was there, what would've she have done.

Told Danny her feelings?

That would've just made things worse.

She sat down into the chair at her desk, and turned on her CD player/Radio with her remote control.

She heard the first song playing, "Rascal Flatts, What Hurts The Most" from her mixed CD, while she did her homework.

The next song played "Eiffel 65, Blue (Da Ba Dee)".

She sighed, "Great song choices Sam" she told herself.

The next song played, "Celine Deon, My Heart Will Go On".

Sam literally threw her pencil down, "WHY DO I PICK ALL THESE FRIGGIN SONGS?!?" She yelled at herself.

The song after that played, "Aly & AJ, Out Of The Blue".

Sam scoffed, "Jeez, where are all these songs coming from?"

The song after that played, "Avril Lavigne, Slipped Away".

Sam was getting really pissed off.

The song after that played, "D.H.T., Listen to Your Heart".

Sam threw her hands up in the air. "THAT TEARS IT!"

She picked another CD to listen to, and spent the whole night listening to one song over and over again, "Cher, Believe".

* * *

The weekend went by slowly.

Danny went to the movies with Valerie on Saturday, but he felt a lonely emptiness and void in himself that Valerie, try as she might, couldn't fill.

* * *

Monday approached too quickly.

Sam dragged herself out of bed, unwilling to greet the day with a happy smile.

Today was going to be the worst day of her life, and she was going to have enough fake smiling as it was already.

* * *

"Hey Sam," Valerie walked up to her at school.

Sam managed a smile.

"Hi Valerie," She managed to say happily.

"Have you seen Danny, he said that he would walk me to my first class?" Valerie asked her.

Sam felt her heart sink.

"No, I haven't seen him, but if I do I'll tell him that you're looking for him." Sam pulled off a big smile.

"Okay, thanks Sam." Valerie said and continued walking down the hallway.

Sam was about to start walking when she saw Danny standing in front of her.

"Oh, hey Sam," He smiled at her.

"Oh, hey," She sighed as she tried to smile.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

"Nothings wrong." She told him, still trying to smile.

"Something is wrong," He told her.

"No, now I'm going to be late for class, and Valerie wants you to walk her to hers so go do that." She said in a miffed tone, and pushed past Danny.

But little did she know that Danny wasn't clueless this time. Wondering why she acted so miffed at him. He knew full well, and couldn't help but frown as he saw her walking through the hallways, with a fake smile on her face throughout the day.

* * *

Every night she slammed her door shut, and ran onto her bed in tears, having bottled them up throughout the day.

This went on for about two months, while Danny and Valerie were going out.

Danny couldn't bear to see Sam hurt so much inside, but it was also too late to not break Valerie's heart also.

"Danny. Danny? Danny!? DANNY," Tucker made Danny jump as he was nodding off while trying to finish his English homework, over at Tucker's house, "Danny, I just asked you a question."

"What?" Danny asked him, and Tucker laughed.

"I'm trying to be serious…"

"Since when are you ever serious?" Danny interrupted, Tucker ignored him.

"Did you agree to go out with Valerie because you felt guilty from hurting her or because you really wanted too?" Tucker's face was serious.

Danny frowned.

"But it was…"

Tucker held his palm up.

"Answer the question truthfully."

Danny sighed.

"At first it seemed like the right thing to do. I mean, she's a ghost hunter, and so am I in a sense, but after going out for awhile, I don't feel like the spark is there anymore, but I don't want to hurt her feelings anymore than I have. I care about her Tuck, and I just…"

Tucker put a hand on Danny's shoulder.

"You have to think about this. Valerie wouldn't have gone through the realization of not being popular if you hadn't gotten her dad demoted. And finding love in you was something she used to hold onto to not give into the pain, and now, you'd rather make her happy, and be miserable for the rest of your life? You might've made her feel hurt, but in time she'll get over it, is that something worth being miserable for the rest of your life?"

Danny sighed. He had a painful choice to make.

* * *

Sam's throat tightened Monday morning as she walked to school with Danny.

They only had one week of school left, and then that was it. They would go to college in the fall, and it might be the last time they would ever see each other.

Sam's stomach did flip-flops. She wanted to blurt everything out to Danny, but she restrained herself.

"Sam, you've been acting strange lately. Are you sure nothings wrong?" Danny looked at her.

She swallowed hard.

"Oh, yeah, everything's fine."

"No, it's not." Danny stood in front of her. She tried to go past him, but he stopped her.

"Danny, I'm going to be late for school, please move out of my way."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

She sighed.

"I can't tell you, I really wish I could, but I can't. I want what's best for you, even if I'm miserable."

Danny frowned.

"Danny it's what you want."

Danny sighed.

Maybe it wasn't what he wanted.

Either way he would make someone miserable for sometime.

He let Sam walk past him, and silently followed behind her.

* * *

Friday morning came too soon, it did for Sam anyways.

Today was the day she would tell Danny the truth.

* * *

Danny flew to school Friday morning, he didn't wait for Sam. He was going to avoid her the whole day.

* * *

"These teenagers are now reaching adulthood. The time in their life where their independent minds will take them to whatever they hope to achieve. It's been fun having these students in my school for the past four years, and I'm sure that there are a lot of memories that will not be forgotten."

The seniors from Casper High, and their families shifted in their seats, as the principal gave a farewell speech.

The seniors sat in their purple robes with their funky little hats, and held their diploma's tightly in their hands.

"And now I'd like to recognize one outstanding student, who will make the final speech for the end of their high school days together. Please welcome our Valedictorian Samantha Manson."

Polite clapping echoed throughout the auditorium.

Sam Manson began to sweat, and swallowed hard as she stood up and walked to the podium.

She set her speech notes down, and spoke into the microphone.

"Good afternoon," The microphone screeched, and a few people chuckled, "This year…this year…has been very unique…and…and…"

She looked out into the audience, and saw Danny.

Danny was completely ignoring her, and he was talking to Valerie and laughing with her.

Tucker, from the side of the stage, whispered to Sam that she needed to continue speaking, but she didn't pay any attention to him.

People started growing uncomfortable in their seats, as she stared at the two people not watching her.

Finally, Tucker caught her attention and she remembered where she was.

"Oh right, sorry," The microphone screeched again, "I just…just spaced out for a second…where was I? Oh right, sorry."

Sam was usually never nervous. She should've been confident, but she wasn't.

"High school is very unique and you can have…" She stared at Danny and Valerie, and barely spoke, "you can have different experiences from someone else."

She could tell that she was losing the crowd, so she wiped the picture of Danny and Valerie out of her mind, and replaced Valerie with herself. Laughing at the boring Valedictorian speech, and talking through it.

She almost smiled, if only it had been true.

She surveyed her audience, and regained her focus.

"I guess…let me start over."

"High school is very unique, and you can have different experiences from someone else. For example, being in band is different than being in sports, being in sports is different from being a over achiever like myself, and being an over achiever can be different from being Goth, although I am both."

A couple people laughed.

"What I'm trying to say here, is that even though we each have our own paths, and we each have our own things that we love, we can still be friends. Sometimes you might fight over the same thing with someone," She looked at Valerie, who had stopped laughing with Danny, and was now paying attention to her, "but it doesn't mean that you fight. You can both learn to share, and if sharing won't work, then you can't make the decision for him, he has to make the decision himself, and if he already did, then that's fine, but I just wish that he would tell me."

People in the audience shifted in their seats uncomfortably.

Sam had just realized what she had said.

"I mean, who hasn't liked the same guy or girl as you before? We need to get along and stop fighting. We all love different things. I don't see why we can't respect that. Why is it so hard? Bringing other people down, that's not the answer. We need to get along because, well, we're the future, and if we keep making fun of people because they love to do something, then people in the future will do the same and things might be forgotten. Like those weird card games that few people still play in school," Sam looked at Mikey, "those beauty pageants," Sam looked at Paulina, "those oh so famous football games," Sam looked at the football team, "those wonderful band pieces we love to hear at concerts," Sam looked at the students in band, "and even Goths."

She sighed and looked down at her wrists where her black bracelets were.

"So many things would be forgotten if we didn't respect them, and I think that our class has done a pretty good job of that, even though sometimes, things did get a little out of hand."

She prepared for her closing statement.

"Thank you parents, students, staff, for coming today to support us on our journey. Remember, we're the future, so let's make it good!"

She turned to leave, when an eruption of applause came from the seniors as they stood up, and soon everyone else followed their example.

Sam's mouth hung open. She hadn't expected to have a standing ovation.

Tucker took her arm and pulled her to the side of the stage.

"Tell them to watch the power point," He whispered to her, and she nodded.

She returned to her position at the podium.

"Thank you, thank you," The applause drowned out, and people took their seats, "Now please enjoy a power point that our own Tucker Foley made."

Polite clapping followed.

She kneeled down beside Tucker at the desk that was set up for the laptop.

He pressed a button, and name of a student appeared with a picture of them in kindergarten and then a picture beside that of them in their senior year as the song See Me Beautiful by Red Grammer played.

* * *

Sam laid on her bed staring up at her ceiling.

She'd already cried into her pillow, and there weren't any more tears that she had left.

She crossed her arms and rubbed them with her hands.

The room seemed colder.

She figured that her mom probably turned on the air conditioning. She had been complaining that it was too hot.

Sam sighed and rolled over on her bed.

It was now Monday night.

Danny hadn't talked to her at all since she last saw him on Friday, and he never talked to her on Friday.

Tucker had given her a hug and told her, "Congratulations".

She had replied by hugging him back and telling him, "Thanks, congratulations to you too."

And even though she knew he didn't see her, she saw him kissing Valerie and telling her congratulations.

Sam felt the tears forming in her eyes.

She picked up her CD player/radio remote and turned her CD player on to the first CD that was in there.

She stared back at the ceiling as the music got ready to play.

She felt extremely cold now.

The first song played, and she screamed out in frustration.

She picked a pillow up from her bed, walked two feet away from her CD player/ radio, flung her pillow at it, and then turned it off.

"Michelle Branch's If Only She Knew…HA! how perfect for right now." Sam said out loud to no one.

She snuggled back into her bed as a small tear rolled down her cheek.

"If only he knew," She whispered into the air to no one.

"What if he does?" Came a male voice from above her.

She sat straight up, and wiped her watery eyes.

"Who said that?"

Danny Phantom materialized in front of her still floating in the air.

She looked away from him.

"What do you want?"

Danny frowned and turned back into Danny Fenton, sitting on the edge of Sam's bed by her.

She tried to scoot away, but he held onto her arm.

"Let go of me, why don't you just…" She turned her head around and looked down at her arm, and then into Danny's eyes, "leave."

She looked into his sky-blue eyes.

They had a sort of hypnotizing feature.

She turned her head away from him. She didn't want to talk to him.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

"Because I want to be."

She scoffed.

"Wouldn't you rather be with your beloved Valerie?"

With his free hand he turned Sam's face toward his, but she refused to look at him.

"Danny, please go away, I don't want to see you anymore if you're only gonna break my heart more."

"But Sam…"

"Please Danny, just go."

He pulled her face closer to his.

She could feel his warm breath on her face.

She tried to break free from his grasp, but he was too strong.

"Danny, stop it, just leave me alone."

"Are you sure that's what you want Sam? Will you be happy, if I leave you alone?"

She stared straight into his eyes, her eyes were full of hatred, but his were not.

"GOD DAMNIT DANNY, I WON'T BE HAPPY IF YOU LEAVE ME ALONE, BUT YOU'RE DATING VALERIE, AND YOU'RE HAPPY, AND I'M NOT GOING TO BE SELFISH AND KEEP YOU AWAY FROM HER, SO BY ALL MEANS, DATE HER, NOT ME!"

He smiled.

"Why won't you be happy if I leave you alone Sammy?"

She had hatred once more in her eyes as she looked into his.

"Don't ever say that name again," She growled at him.

"You haven't answered the question yet Sam."

She looked down, and then towards her wall.

"Iwouldn'tbehappybecauseIloveyouandIdon'twantyoutoendupwithValerie."

"What, can you say that a little bit more louder and slower Sam?"

She took in a deep breath.

"I said, I wouldn't be happy…because…because I…I…I love you Danny…and…and I couldn't bear to see you end up with Valerie. It'd just break my…"

She didn't get to finish her sentence.

Instead Danny placed his lips upon hers tenderly, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

It wasn't long before she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Suddenly Sam broke apart, and turned her head away from him.

Tears streamed down her face.

"What's wrong?"

"You…you..." She wiped her eyes, and tried to say what she felt, "but you're going out with Valerie. You shouldn't be here."

Danny took her hand in his, and made her look into his eyes.

"I love you Sam, and I always have, you not anybody else. It just took me awhile to realize that I had loved you all along."

Sam, opened a drawer to her dresser, and pulled out a small ring.

Danny immediately recognized the ring.

"I've been meaning to give this back to you." She handed it to him, "and by the way, who is Wes?"

Danny looked at the ring, it was upside down and it said Wes.

Danny laughed.

He turned the ring over and let Sam look at it.

Her frown turned into a smile.

"Sam, will you go out with me?" He asked her.

She looked into his eyes, and Danny put the ring on her right hand.

"Of course I will," She answered him.

Sam wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him closer.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her closer.

Slowly, the distance between them vanished, and Sam Manson and Danny Fenton were each others future.

* * *

-Lafinia 


End file.
